Stay With Me, Baby
by kevin the bird
Summary: Madeline takes care of Sam on the way back from a mission. / Lightweight kind of out of character.


Madeline didn't often go on missions that involved a lot of violence, but when she did, she was often a level headed person. She knew that if she lost her shit, she would put Michael, Fi, Sam or Jesse in danger. But when everything was over, that's when she let out her nerves, often by chain smoking, which wasn't unusual for Madeline. This mission, however, she had to keep her level head even after getting away from the danger because Sam had a broken nose and cracked ribs, so all she had in her mind was that the man who she considered another son was hurt and she needed to help him. And that's exactly what she did when she piled into the van with Sam, Michael climbing into the driver's seat, Fiona climbing into the passengers seat and Jesse going in through the back of the van. The first thing she did was straddle Sam's lap and lean his head, slowly, against the back of the bench seat he was sitting on.

"Stay with me, baby," she said softly. His nose was still bleeding, so, knowing she had a tank top under her shirt, she took it off, crossing her arms against her body and pulling it straight over her head. She scrunched her shirt up and pressed it, softly, against his nose so it started collecting the blood. Just then, a bump in the road was felt and Madeline swayed a little bit, unstable on her knees. Sam quickly moved his hands so they were protectively wrapped around Madeline's hips so she wouldn't fall down. "Does it hurt?" she asked when she was stable on her knees again.

"I'll be fine, Maddie," Sam said. Everyone was still on high alert from everything that had just happened, so when Fi noticed a black van racing towards them, she immediately thought the worst.

"Madeline, get down," she said. Madeline did as she was told and sat back against her knees so she was sitting in Sam's lap and bent down so her head was resting against his chest. Sam instinctively moved his hands from her hips and wrapped his arms around her body, pulling her in close to him as he slid down slightly in his seat so they were out of sight from the window.

"Your ribs, Sam," Madeline said as she tried to move so she didn't put too much pressure on Sam's torso.

"My ribs will be fine," Sam said as he kept his grip strong around his mother. "Just stay down, Maddie. I don't want you to get hurt." Madeline smiled at what he said, but she didn't have much time before Fiona interrupted them.

"False alarm," she said when they passed the truck with no problem. Madeline then shot back up so she was straddling Sam again as he carefully slid back up the seat. Again, another bump from the road was felt and Sam's hands shot back to Madeline's hips so she wouldn't fall. She then moved her shirt away from Sam's nose to see if it was still bleeding. When she noticed it had stopped, she attempted to clean his face up with her shirt.

"Your shirt is ruined," Sam noted. Madeline smiled again at the concern Sam had for her shirt.

"It's fine, baby. It's an old shirt," she said as she cupped Sam's chin and ran her thumb against his cheek affectionately. Sam smiled up at her at the gesture It was oddly comforting having Madeline so close to him, taking care of him. Sam's mother had died years before. Even when she was alive, he never saw much of her when she was alive because of his job. He missed her. Madeline reminded him a lot of her. They were both tough, they both didn't take shit from anyone and they were both chain smokers. "How are your ribs?" she asked as she pulled Sam's shirt up to look at his torso. He was already showing signs of bruising. She rested a hand, carefully, against his ribcage. Sam breathed in sharply. But he was surprised at how good Madeline's small hand felt against his ribs. They were always cold, so it felt good against his skin. Hearing the intake of breath from Sam, Madeline quickly moved her hand away from his body. "Sorry, sweetheart," she said quietly.

"No, no," Sam said. "Keep it there. Your hand is cold and it feels good," he said when he noticed the confused look on Madeline's face. Madeline smiled as she put her hand against his torso again. She kept it there for a few seconds before she moved so she was sitting next to Sam. "We'll wrap those up when we get back to the house," she said as she pulled out her cigarettes and lighter. She pulled a cigarette out of it's box, put it in between her lips and lit it up. She took a deep breath in and held the smoke in her lungs for a few seconds before breathing it out. She continued puffing the cigarette until she put it out in the ash tray that came with the van. She then took out another cigarette. She was finally able to relax.

"You're going to kill yourself, Maddie," Sam said as he pulled the cigarette from Madeline's lips before she could light it up. Madeline softly glared at the man sitting next to her as she put her pack of cigarettes away. Silence fell over the van while they drove the rest of the way back to Madeline's house, everyone reeling from what just happened. Once they got there, Madeline took care of everyone's wounds, having not sustained any.


End file.
